State Tax Draws Fire, Praise

October 30, 1987|By JOHN KENNEDY, Politics Writer

An overflow crowd jammed West Palm Beach City Hall on Thursday, alternately praising and blasting the state`s sales tax on services in the first of a series of public hearings scheduled across Florida.

House Speaker Jon Mills and Senate President John Vogt heard 61 people -- ranging from leaders of professional associations to condo retirees -- speak out on the tax.

``There`s never been a perfect piece of legislation passed, and this stands as no departure from that,`` Mills said of the services tax. ``But if it was easy, we wouldn`t be here today.``

The legislators -- both supporters of the services tax -- took the debate on the road after the Legislature and Gov. Bob Martinez deadlocked on the issue after 3 1/2 weeks of special session this fall.

The impasse in Tallahassee centered on whether to revise the levy -- passed last spring -- or repeal and replace it with an increase in the 5 percent sales tax on goods.

The change of scenery, though, did little to resolve the clash.

Many of the 125 people attending the hearing represented the same organizations that were in the forefront of the tax battle waged at the Capitol.

At the same time, about 35 people -- not aligned with organizations and mostly tax opponents -- gathered outside the City Commission room where the hearing was held, eventually leaving when they could not get into the packed chamber.

``You`re going to have a lot of the same groups coming to different meetings with the same positions,`` Vogt said. ``But I guess I hoped you`d get more John Q. Publics at something like this.``

Instead, spokesmen for area schools, local government, social programs and unions urged that legislators merely revise the services tax when they reconvene in December. Real-estate brokers, lawyers and hoteliers called for repealing the tax.

Stayton Addison, president of The Breakers in Palm Beach, said his hotel expects to lose $1.8 million in business next year because nationwide corporate clients are staying away from Florida in protest of the tax.

``This is one of the only ways they can retaliate,`` Addison said. ``And a good many more are waiting in the wings and I feel we could have even more cancellations.``

Paul Arban, who operates an executive recruiting company in Jupiter, also claimed that his out-of-state competition was being helped by the services tax he must charge clients.

``When I go to sleep at night I don`t worry about the Russians, Nicaraguans or even the Cubans,`` he said. ``The people I worry about are the Texans and Georgians. They`re the ones that affect my business.``

Another speaker, Skip Gladwin, a Jupiter contractor, removed a $20 bill from his wallet and told Mills that he would give it to him if the legislator could tell him how much services tax is owed on a new $100,000 home.

``You`ve handed my office an administrative nightmare that has brought my office to a standstill -- and I`m angry about it,`` Gladwin said.

Supporters of the tax, however, were just as vocal in urging legislators to retain the levy, which is expected to raise about $750 million in state revenue this year.

``We can`t afford to step back and have a second- or third-rate educational system in this state,`` said Helen Popovich, president of Florida Atlantic University.

Jay Slavin, a Delray Beach condo activist and member of the Florida Silver- Haired Legislature, noted that the senior advocacy chamber voted last week to support the services tax.

``We sat in your seats,`` Slavin told legislators. ``We want the tax in place. You had the good sense to pass the tax. Don`t repeal it, we want it.``

The second public hearing Mills and Vogt will hold on the services tax is scheduled for Tuesday in Fort Myers. The legislators have scheduled a hearing for Thursday in the Broward County Governmental Center in Fort Lauderdale.